The Week Off
by Sharo8760
Summary: When Scully goes on a vacation, Mulder has the basement office all to himself. Set in general season 5, not really connected to any episode. One-shot.


A/N: Originally written for xf_is_love 2012 on LiveJournal. Reviews are much appreciated! (And thanks for the corrections, Wendy!)

**The Week Off**

**Day 0 – Tuesday**

"So, um, I'll be going now. See you next week," Scully broke the focused silence in the basement office. She pushed her chair neatly under the table and took her bag.

Mulder lifted his head from a file he had been reading. "Is it four already?"

"Four thirty, actually."

"Oh. Well, have a nice vacation, then," he said, sounding a bit disappointed. He offered her a brief smile and went back to the file, trying to look nonchalant.

He heard the door close and let out a long breath. What was he going to do now?

**Day 1 – Wednesday**

Mulder arrived at the office at eight. There was nothing new in the inbox but he had yet to write his report of the previous field trip, the identical triplets' case in Montana. For a while he wondered if he should actually start typing but decided to go through some old archives again instead. The good thing about having Scully gone was that no one would nag about report deadlines or remind him of the existence of superiors like Skinner. He could concentrate on re-reading and studying his favorite cases without being interrupted.

Five hours after a lunch time that didn't actually involve a lunch but a small sandwich, Mulder was starting to feel hungry. He looked around and found himself completely surrounded by old case files and smiled at the sudden realization that he wouldn't even have to clean it up for tomorrow. _Today was a good day_, he thought, and left the office to get a pizza and watch a movie.

**Day 2 – Thursday**

The ghost of the Montana case haunted him as he got to the office on Thursday. The inbox had an annoyingly bright memo in it, saying that the deadline was today and that Skinner wouldn't wait long this time. Mulder rolled his eyes and reluctantly sat on the chair.

_Okay, report. Report, report, report_. He took out a pack of fresh pencils and began to sharpen them. He promised himself he would only get to throw them to the ceiling after the report was done.

By noon, eight of the fifteen pencils were in the ceiling, and there were thirty-eight words on the report. Mulder had gone to lunch to get inspiration.

When he left the office, all of the pencils were nicely stuck on the ceiling and the report was almost done. He had covered the first murder of three. The bin was surrounded by scrunched pieces of paper, some kind of notes for the report. Everything on Mulder's desk was neatly and geometrically arranged and he had even cleaned up the floor of all the yesterday's files.

**Day 3 – Friday**

Number of pencils fallen from the ceiling during the night: 4.

Number of angry notes from Skinner about the missed deadline: 1.

Number of words added to the report: 258.

Number of ancient case files examined closer: 6.

Number of phone calls from the Gunmen about a recent UFO sighting in Maryland: 3.

Number of finished reports: 0.

**Days 4 and 5 – The Weekend**

It was just like any weekend – a field trip to Maryland, where UFOs, according to all credible sources, should be found on that specific weekend. There was nothing different this time; just like the other six times, they saw absolutely nothing but had fun, drank a bit too much beer (except Byers) and drove back home in the Gunmen van on Sunday evening.

**Day 6 - Monday**

The dialing tone seemed to go on forever.

"Hello?" the answer finally came.

"Scully! Hey, Scully, it's me," Mulder said happily. He suddenly realized he had missed her voice. "How's Florida?"

"Sunny and warm, just like it says on the brochure," she replied warily. "Why do you sound so enthusiastic? You're not going to fly me out to Maine for a werewolf case, are you?"

Mulder frowned. "No, I just wanted to talk with you. How is your family?"

Scully audibly relaxed and said, "They're fine. Bill got a bit sunburned yesterday, my little nephew loves playing in the sand and Mom is happy as a clam to be on a vacation, and so am I. I don't know if you've noticed but absolutely none of our cases take place in nice surroundings with decent weather."

"I've noticed," Mulder laughed.

The line went quiet for a while. Mulder could hear Scully smiling, and he smiled as well.

"What are you doing now?" he asked.

"Just sunbathing," she replied, "it feels so weird to lie on the beach doing nothing, but I love it."

"You're still coming back, aren't you? On Wednesday?"

"Our flight is at 4 pm tomorrow, so yes."

Mulder sighed a little. "Great. Have a safe flight."

"See you."

**Day 7 – Tuesday**

Mulder decided to use one of his thirty-eight days off he had gained during the last couple of years of his FBI employment. He wasn't big on vacations, really. He also decided to not notify Skinner of the decision by phone but by a brief note he left on his desk because the report still needed some final touches.

To be honest, he missed Scully. Quite a lot, way more than he had expected. And of course the office reminded him of her. And besides, late on Monday they had unexpectedly got a new case, a brand new case, and he had to dig some background details with the Gunmen. So, in the end, it wasn't just slacking off work, it was working outside the workplace.

**Day 8 – Wednesday**

It was 7.30 in the morning when Mulder opened the basement door. Scully wasn't in yet. Mulder looked around. Everything had to look good. No case files on the floor, no pencils on the ceiling – he had to handpick the last three persistent ones – and dispose of all the colorful post-its reminding of the report. Would there be enough time to finish it before she came?

He positioned himself behind the desk and started up the computer. He had managed to type three words when he heard the door open and lifted his head in anticipation.

"Morning, Mulder," Scully said cheerfully. He smiled back at her, wondering how she could sunbathe and still return from her vacation so very pale.

"Good morning."

She settled in, made herself feel at home again in the office, as he idly typed and watched her at the same time.

Suddenly she woke him up from his trance. "Oh, no. Please tell me this is not the Montana case."

Mulder's eyes shot up. "It – it might be."

Scully's voice went back to its usual dry annoyance. "Mulder. Have you actually done anything while I was gone? The deadline for this report was a week ago!"

"That reminds me," Mulder avoided the question, "we have a new case up in Vermont."

"Mulder…"

"Welcome back, Scully," he replied, smiling brightly. Scully couldn't help laughing.


End file.
